The Internet provides a wonderful forum for mass distribution of news and other current information. Increasingly, more and more people are using the World Wide Web (or simply "WWW" or "Web") as their primary, or secondary, source of news and current events. Web sites from MSNBC, CNN, ESPN, and ABC News are experiencing rapidly increasing viewership.
One reason for the growing popularity is that the online forum offers the user an interactive experience, something that conventional television and newspapers cannot. Users can go directly to stories that interest them most. Content editors can also take advantage of the interactive environment by encouraging users to engage in further dialog or react in some manner to the content. For example, the MSNBC Web site found at www.msnbe.com offers readers the opportunity rate stories on an individual basis. The site then tallies the results and compiles a "Top 10" list of the most enjoyed stories.
Another opportunity for online content providers is to conduct live voting polls. Online providers insert survey questions as part of their content and invite readers to respond to the survey by submitting online votes. The impromptu polls typically coincide with current topics of interest featured in the story running beside the poll. As an example, a sports-related Web site, such as the ESPN site www.espn.sportzone.com might run an article on Michael Jordan. The content editors might ask the following question in conjunction with the story:
Do you think Michael Jordan will return to Chicago for another season?
Yes PA2 No
Readers respond by clicking one of the two options. This action sends a response from the user's computer to the Web server at the site. The Web server adds the votes to other votes and compiles the results. The Web server downloads the results to the reader during a subsequent interaction with the user's computer. The poll results are posted as part of the story for the reader to observe how other people voted in comparison to his/her own vote. These real-time polls are very popular.
One problem with live online surveys concerns the underlying production framework for creating real-tine interactive polls. Production of online surveys requires a substantial amount of programming and quality-assurance testing. Typically, an editorial staff writes one or more survey questions in any manner they choose, and to derive what ever kind of response they desire. The questions may be drafted as multiple choice, open ended, essay, and so forth.
After the questions are written, a production group writes a dedicated software program and constructs a special database infrastructure to support the automated survey. For instance, the production group might create one or more database structures to hold votes cast by the readers and to relate those votes to the particular question(s). To support the MSNBC "Top 10" survey, for example, the MSNBC producers defined a table with fields to hold a story ID, a voter ID, a date that the vote is cast, and a response. The producers also defined a second table with fields for the story ID and vote totals. When a reader voted on a particular story, the vote was recorded in the first table in correlation with that story and the totals for that story were adjusted accordingly in the second table. These totals were then used to construct the "Top 10" list, which was presented back to the user.
Unfortunately, the program and data structures are usually built from scratch for each set of questions. The program and data structures are not portable from one survey to another. Moreover, since the database structures are rebuilt for each survey, the production group must test the entire polling process in an offline environment each time a new survey is produced. These tests ensure that the votes are collected properly, stored in the correct data locations, and tallied correctly, and that the results are returned in the desired format to the reader's computer. If the tests prove successful, the production group releases the content and survey for live presentation on the Web site. This testing process takes time, thereby increasing production costs for online content providers.
Accordingly, there is a need for a uniform approach that integrates the editorial process with the production process to standardize and streamline creation of online surveys.